Syntax

35 - (15 + 42)

Return value

The result of the expression that is stored within the parentheses, which can be any valid AppleScript expression, identifier, or return value from a subroutine or command.

Description

Using parentheses with expressions forces the parenthetical operation to be evaluated first, hopefully producing the result you intended. The syntax example that begins this section would produce 62 if the parentheses were not there (35 - 15 + 42), whereas with the parentheses the result is -22. Each nested parenthetical expression is evaluated before any outer parenthetical expressions are evaluated.

To a lesser extent, the use of parentheses makes complex statements more readable, even if the placement of the parentheses does not change the result of the expression.

Examples

35.6 * (7 / (round realVar)) (* a complex expression, including
the 'round' scripting addition, looks a little clearer when parentheses are 
used, even though the result is the same compared with leaving the parentheses 
out *)

set herReply to (display dialog¬
"Do you love me?" default answer¬
"Of course I do!" buttons {"answer him", "cancel affair"}) (* use parentheses 
to encapsulate, at least visually, the return value from a scripting-addition 
command (these parentheses are not strictly necessary) *)